Indian pair Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee became the first Indians to win a WTT Contender title in 2023 as they beat Japan's Miwa Harimoto and Miyuu Kihara in the final of the women's doubles category in Tunis on Sunday.
The Indians won the first two games (11-5,11-6) comprehensively but the Japanese came back in the third game strongly and clinched it 11-5. The fourth game saw both teams battling valiantly and in a closely fought encounter, the Indians emerged victorious 13-11 and won the match 3-1.
India's Sutirtha Mukherjee & Ayhika Mukherjee are your #WTTTunis Women's Doubles champions 🎉 pic.twitter.com/upDHXoipF3
— World Table Tennis (@WTTGlobal) June 25, 2023
The duo had also upset the top seeds Shin Yubin and Jeon Jihee of Japan 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9 in a hard-fought semi-final.
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Unlike the women's doubles category where India came out victors, in the mixed doubles and men's doubles categories, the teams of Manika Batra and G Sathiyan and Manas Vikash Thakkar and Manush Utpalbhai Shah respectively were ousted from the last four stage.
While Batra-Sathiyan bowed out of the competition by losing to South Korea's Shin Yubin and Lim Jonghoon 0-3 (7-11, 8-11, 9-11), Thakkar and Shah went down against Korea's Cho Daeseong and Cho Seungmin 0-3 (3-11, 12-14, 7-11).
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